Monday, March 4, 2013

Atlantic warming points to malaria risk... in India

Terra Daily via (AFP): Health watchdogs monitoring the risk of malaria in India should keep a close eye on what's happening thousands of kilometres (miles) away in the Atlantic, an unusual study published on Sunday suggests. The temperature of the sea surface in the tropical South Atlantic is a big determinant for levels of monsoon rain, which in turn is the big factor for malarial mosquitoes, it says.

Researchers led by Mercedes Pascual at the University of Michigan compared maps of monsoon rainfall and malaria epidemics in the desert fringe of northwestern India with a global map of sea-surface temperatures.

What struck them was a clear link between abnormally cold temperatures in the tropical South Atlantic in July and a regional increase in malaria in the ensuing September-December period. Previous research has suggested that the vast body of water in the Atlantic has a much bigger impact on the global climate system than thought.

When this volume of ocean warms or cools, it has a knock-on effect on adjoining seas. The transfer of heat has an impact on ocean circulation and rainfall, affecting for instance the relationship between the monsoon of the Indian Ocean and El Nino, the pendulum weather swing in the Pacific....

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June 2009 – At the studios of Cleanskies TV, I was interviewed about the costs of climate change, and discussed adaptation efforts underway in the US and around the world.

May 2009 – I helped draft the scenarios for Rising Waters, a multistakeholder scenarios effort focused on climate change adaptation in the Hudson Valley. The final report is now completed and available here.

May 2008 – I reviewed two books on climate and energy in the New Leader magazine: James Gustave Speth's The Bridge at the Edge of the World: Capitalism, the Environment and Crossing from Crisis to Sustainability, plus Robert Bryce's Gusher of Lies: The Dangerous Delusions of Energy Independence.

January 2008 – A very local paper covers a very global issue.... The Litchfield County Times in northwestern Connectictut ran an article in January 2008 about Carbon-Based.

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